CBC News:

To mark Star Wars Day, as May the 4th has come to be known, the carillon bells inside the Peace Tower on Parliament Hill rang out the Imperial March music for Star Wars, among other space-related tunes.

It was part of a 15-minute carillon concert with a space theme that began at noon.

The concert included the Star Wars theme by John Williams, arranged by Janet Dundore; Princess Leia’s Theme, arranged by Janet Dundore and Andrea McCrady; and The Imperial March, arranged by Andrea McCrady.

There’s nerdy and there’s cool. Rarely do the two intersect but this is definitely Nerd Cool.

Techcrunch:

The idea behind Dufl is that frequent travelers waste a lot of time trying to clean and prep their clothes for each trip, especially when those trips are pretty much back-to-back. With Dufl, the user never has to pack a bag or clean their travel clothes ever again.

I’d hate to be such a frequent business traveller I’d need this kind of service but it does sound like a pretty cool idea and an example of a business that wouldn’t have been possible ten, maybe even five years ago.

Mapbox:

The Geotaggers’ World Atlas is my long-term project to discover the world’s most interesting places and the routes that people follow between them. Five years ago I first started retrieving photo locations from the Flickr search API and drawing lines between them to make the first version of the Atlas.

Today I’m able to launch the full Geotaggers’ World Atlas covering every city in the world. Thanks to Flickr’s API, it exposes over 10 years of photo locations, and as a web map it lets you explore not just the largest centers of activity but also their context, anywhere on earth.

As an exercise in coding, this is interesting. As a visualization of data, it’s utterly fascinating. The only downside is the interactive map doesn’t have details like street names so it may be hard to find out what is so fascinating about that particular location but look up your own city on the map and see if you can spot “the most interesting places”.

The National Post:

Backed by the Quebec justice system and the provincial police, sheriffs have raided sugar shacks down country roads and seized barrels of maple syrup, using trucks and front-end loaders. The federation’s goal: enforcing a supply management system that controls the sale and proceeds of maple syrup in Quebec.

“They have more power than police,” says Daniel Gaudreau, a syrup producer in Scotstown, Que. “They can come into my house anytime they want.”

Quebec is the Saudi Arabia of maple syrup.

We have written about this issue in the past but this story really brings home the enormous power of the The Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers – power that looks, on the surface, out of control.

The Daily Dot:

Before you go cancelling your order for Apple’s first smartwatch, it’s important to grasp the facts.

But “Apple Watch Defective!” is such a sexier headline. By the way, it’s a good rule of thumb that, when the headline includes something bad about an Apple product, wait 24 hours before commenting. Invariably, the facts come out and it’s not nearly as bad as the Chicken Littles would have you think.

App Camp for Girls:

The Quiz Compendium includes 15 personality quizzes created by camper project teams. You’ll learn so many things about yourself, such as what your superpower is, where you should go on vacation, and even what your breakfast choices say about your personality.

I utterly despise these kinds of “personality quizzes” but App Camp for Girls is a great cause started by a wonderful person, Jean MacDonald. The app is only 99 cents and goes to a very worthy organization. So I’ll swallow my disdain and buy the app and you should too.

Really interesting video from the Condé Nast International Luxury Conference. I love listening to Ive talk. It’s not just the British accent but you get the sense he has thought a lot and deeply about these things.

Mesosphere:

Apple announced during a Wednesday night meetup at its Cupertino, California, headquarters that the company’s popular Siri application is powered by Apache Mesos.

We at Mesosphere are obviously thrilled about Apple’s public validation of the technology on which our Datacenter Operating System is based. If Apple trusts Mesos to underpin Siri — a complex application that handles Apple-only-knows-how-many voice queries per day from hundreds of millions of iPhone and iPad users — that says a lot about how mature Mesos is and how ready it is to make a big impact in companies of all stripes.

This might be a little too “inside baseball” for most people but it’s interesting if only for fact Apple “opened the Kimono” to a segment of the developer community. I think it’s yet another sign of Apple being a little less closed off and secretive and acknowledging that others need and want to know their future plans.

These torture tests are interesting but painful to watch. Consumer Reports also has an article “The science behind smartwatch scratch resistance” about how they did the scratch test and what it means.

Bottom line? “The face of the Apple Watch is definitely harder than that of the Apple Watch Sport. But the performance of the hardened glass of the Sport model is pretty impressive as well.” It sounds like, as long as you take the usual amount of care with your expensive electronics, the Apple Watch screens are pretty durable.

Apple: Aid Nepal earthquake relief efforts by making a donation to the Red Cross. As I have recently discovered, every little bit helps. Even if you only have $5 to spare, it adds up.

Eric Alba:

Checked my watch for the time, noticed my battery is at 43%, either that or it’s 43F degrees out, I’m drunk.

Looks like the Apple Watch is quite versatile.

Vox:

In April 1995, the Hubble Space Telescope — which was launched into orbit exactly 25 years ago — took its most iconic image: the Pillars of Creation. These gigantic towers of dust and gas, 7,000 light years away, are named because the immense force of gravity causes them to condense into clumps of matter that will become new star systems.

In fact, billions of years ago our own solar system may have been born through the same process — so when you look at this upgraded 2014 version of the image, you’re also looking back at the very distant history of Earth.

We’ve all seen this image a hundred times but the details in this story are really fascinating.

CBC News:

Canadians are a relatively happy bunch — the fifth happiest in the world, according to new data from the 2015 World Happiness Report released Thursday.

The report issues a score on a scale of zero to 10 based on Gallup World Poll data collected from people in more than 150 countries between 2012 and 2014.

Researchers then analyze the “life evaluation” data to rank countries, ostensibly providing a comparative overview of people’s “subjective well-being” in each.

For all of our myriad problems and issues, Canada is still a great country. Read the story for the list of the top five and where the US placed in the report – both very interesting.

Petapixel:

Adobe today announced its latest version of Lightroom, called Lightroom CC. The update brings faster performance, some revamped tools, and a set of powerful new creation features.

Here’s a look at the major new things found in Lightroom CC, which will also be sold as a standalone program called Lightroom 6.

Now that Aperture has all but disappeared, Lightroom will be the only choice for most professional photographers. Luckily, it’s a very good app on its own and these new features add a lot to its abilities.

Re/code:

One of the proposed benefits of wearable technology is the notion of having a health-and-fitness tracker attached to your body 24/7 — or at least for a good portion of the day. This is the case with activity-tracking wristbands, like Fitbit and Jawbone Up, and also the appeal of some smartwatches, such as Apple Watch.

As I wrote in my earlier review, I’ve found Apple Watch to be a capable health-and-fitness tracker — especially for a smartwatch.

As I suspected and as was confirmed by several reviewers, the Apple Watch, while not a perfect fitness tracking device for the hard core exercise buff, will certainly provide benefit to those who use it to track their activities. And the really good news is, once it gets in the hands of developers and users, it will only get better.

CNET:

Twitter is upgrading its popular direct message feature to allow users to receive messages from other users regardless if they follow each other. The move is part of its ongoing effort to try to boost user growth as pressure from Wall Street investors continues.

I’m not sure how or why CNET describes this as a “upgrade”. It’s like the people who run Twitter don’t actually use Twitter. This will open up a whole new way for spammers to abuse the service and, while it might draw in advertisers who want to send “personalized” direct messages to people, it will drive away more users than it could ever to benefit.

UPDATE: The Next Web points out this is “an optional feature” and “The new setting is turned off by default.”

Lisa Jackson, Apple’s vice president of Environmental Initiatives:

Today, Apple and The Conservation Fund are announcing a collaboration designed to help America’s working forests stay working forests. For Apple, this is the beginning of a worldwide effort, one that represents a new approach as it reassesses its impact on the world’s paper supply chain.

Apple believes that paper, like energy, can be a renewable resource. So Apple is striving to supply 100 percent of the virgin fibers used in its paper and packaging from sustainably managed forests or controlled wood sources.

As usual, an interesting manifesto from Apple regarding its environmental initiatives but I also find it fascinating this is a story on Medium, not a press release. Hopefully, we’ll see more of these kinds of articles directly from Apple.

LA Times:

The Los Angeles Unified School District is seeking to recoup millions of dollars from technology giant Apple over a problem-plagued curriculum that was provided with iPads intended to be given to every student, teacher and administrator.

To press its case, the Board of Education on Tuesday authorized its attorneys in a closed-door meeting to explore possible litigation against Apple and Pearson, the company that developed the curriculum as a subcontractor to Apple.

This story has been ongoing and includes an FBI investigation, resignations of officials and plenty of blame for all to go around.

Inquisitr:

Dan Price, the CEO of a start-up company located in Seattle, has just raised his employee’s minimum wage to $70,000 by cutting his $1 million salary to that of his lowest-paid employees.

Price is taking upwards to 80 percent of his credit card processing company Gravity Payments’ $2.2 million expected profit and putting it into his employee’s salaries.Price recently announced that over a three-year period, Gravity Payments will be offering its 120 employees a salary of at least $70,000.

Fantastic news for the company’s employees. Some say this will become the model for other companies but I’d be hugely surprised if anyone else followed suit. It’s just not The Corporate Way.

One thing bothered me about this story though.

Price recently told the New York Times that he was motivated to make the radical change after he read a newly released study about how pay raises increase the happiness of those receiving them.

Seriously? You had to read a study to know this? He’s obviously never been poor a day in his life. The vast majority of us know all too well how important money can be to peace of mind, health, happiness and security.

My criticism aside, I couldn’t be happier for the employees of Gravity Payments.

John Siracusa:

Nearly 15 years ago, I wrote my first review of Mac OS X for a nascent “PC enthusiast’s” website called Ars Technica. Nearly 15 years later, I wrote my last. Though Apple will presumably announce the next major version of OS X at WWDC this coming June, I won’t be reviewing it for Ars Technica or any other publication, including the website you’re reading now.

Siracusa’s name was known to many long before he started to write his incredible in-depth reviews of Apple’s Mac OS X but he will be forever known as the guy who wrote in the most detail about the OS.

He says:

Someone else can pick up the baton for the next 15 years.

Sadly, that’s not going to happen. No one can replace Siracusa or his writing style or his passion for writing the most complete reviews humanly possible of Mac OS X.

FiveThirtyEight:

Americans hate filing tax returns, but they love getting refunds. More than three in four taxpayers get refunds, and the average amount they get back is close to $3,000, according to IRS data. That means that for many Americans, their annual refund is the biggest single check they’ll get all year.

But if you’re among the millions expecting a payout from the IRS this spring, make no mistake: That money was yours all along. Getting a refund means you paid too much in taxes last year and the government is paying that money back — without interest.

I’m no tax expert but I’ve always told people they should work their taxes so they get the smallest refund possible. Otherwise, you’re just giving the government an interest free loan of your money.

Andy Hertzfeld:

I suspect that Steve Jobs would not be thrilled with Becoming Steve Jobs, a new business biography by Brent Schlender and Rick Tetzeli. While it’s a worthwhile book filled with previously unheard stories and insightful industry analysis, Steve would have disliked it because of the persistent negative spin it applies to the first half of his career.

That’s why it’s puzzling to see Apple throw their considerable weight behind it.

Interesting comments from Hertzfeld, a guy who was there in the beginning. While he acknowledges his own biases, he does bring up some interesting questions about the descriptions of the early part of the book, the lack of interviews of the people involved in those early days and why Apple threw considerable weight behind this book.

He does say the book is interesting and still worth a read. Like most biographies, it takes several versions and editions to get a complete picture of the subject and even then, you are looking through a foggy window to do so.

Apple:

Ad-injection software is advertising-supported software that can come from third-party download sites. Software that you download from such sites may have been customized to install both the software you want and the ad-injection software. If your Mac has ad-injection software installed, you might see pop-up windows, ads, and graphics while surfing the web, even if “Block pop-up windows” is selected in Safari preferences. Ad-injection software might also change your homepage and preferred search engine.

Use these instructions to uninstall or remove ad-injection software—sometimes called adware.

These are step by step instructions from Apple on how to remove this garbage. It’s a little involved and fidgety but worth it if you or someone you know has this issue. I also use the donationware software, AdwareMedic, periodically to ensure I remain adware free.

Monday Note:

As the first wave of Apple Watch reviews shows, waiting for impressions to settle down isn’t part of the Product Review genre. The psychoactive toxicity of Apple product launches that I made fun of two weeks ago is in full display as reviewers climb to the rooftops in a race for income-producing pageviews.

There’s no doubt that “page view journalism” has taken its toll on, at the very least, reviews of Apple’s products.

Macworld:

Popcorn Time for iOS tries to offer a version of sideloading, but there are far too many pieces of its process to worry about. Further, it’s not likely to be reliably available.

It’s unimaginable that Apple would ever allow something like Popcorn Time in the App Store. It’s also inadvisable by any standard to install software like it through the method the developers provide.

Leaving aside the legality of this app, the process you have to go through in order to install it makes it a non-starter for me.

iMore:

Photo editing app Snapseed gets its first major update since 2013 with version 2.0, adding a number of new editing tools to help you get the most out of your photos.

Snapseed is my favourite iOS editing app and it’s free. The interface has changed significantly but it’s not awful. If you’ve used previous versions, you’ll get the hang of this new UI fairly quickly. If you’ve never used it, you really should. It’s easy to figure out. Every photo I take on my iPhone gets passed through Snapseed.

Steven Levy:

A few weeks ago I was crossing the street. It was cold — late February in the Winter From Hell here on the east coast — and I was wearing a heavy coat with an inside pocket for my iPhone. The device buzzed and vibrated. My heart quickened. I ran the remaining few yards to the curb. I pulled off my gloves, fumbled to open the buttons of the coat, and almost dropped my bag in the process. Finally I managed to pull out the phone. On the screen was the following message:

“Braves OF B.J. Upton has changed his name to Melvin”

This was delivered to me in the standard message format, no different than a New York Times alert informing me a building two blocks from my apartment has exploded, or an iChat message that my sister is desperately trying to reach me. Please note that I am not a blood relative of B.J. — sorry, Melvin — Upton, nor am I even a fan of the Atlanta Braves. In other words…this could have waited.

I reflexively deny permission to 99% of the apps that ask to notify me of every stupid little thing so I have less of an issue with this but I do understand where Levy is coming from. One of the things that jumps out at me from some of the Apple Watch reviews is the idea that, if you set it up right, only those notifications that are truly important will be sent on to your wrist. But that’s the way I have my iPhone set up already.

San Jose Mercury News:

Apple has opened the door for construction workers with recent felonies on their records to help build its new campus.

The tech giant has lifted a requirement that people who had been convicted of felonies within the past seven years could not work on the massive Cupertino construction project, Apple spokesman Josh Rosenstock told this newspaper Thursday. After the policy came to light this week, Apple came under fire from union leaders and advocates, who say construction jobs are a key source of work for felons trying to transition back into society.

I’m glad they did this. Now I can apply for a job on the Apple Campus 2 construction crew.

Re/code:

Foxconn is eager to present a different face, and agreed to give Re/code a tour of a sprawling manufacturing facility in Shenzhen in the south China province of Guangdong were it makes iPads and Macs. To be clear, we were not allowed unfettered access. A special assistant to CEO Terry Gou traveled from Shanghai to escort us on a tour that appeared to paint a picture of workers being treated well. We weren’t permitted to observe the factory floor — an unidentified customer wouldn’t allow that.

I think it’s fair to assume we all know who the “unidentified customer” was.

The Verge:

On Thursday, April 4th, 1985, a blast of dystopian satire hit the UK airwaves. Max Headroom: 20 Minutes into the Future was a snarky take on media and corporate greed, told through the eyes of investigative journalist Edison Carter (Matt Frewer) and his computer-generated alter-ego: an artificial intelligence named Max Headroom.

I loved the character in the short snippets we saw. If you ever want to show your kids how weird the 80’s were, you can start by having them watch Max Headroom bits.